Communication devices comprise a generally well-understood area of endeavor including, but not limited to, two-way communications based upon, for example, wireless cellular telephony and the like. In many communication systems the system infrastructure will assign or otherwise facilitate the allocation of wireless resources (such as, but not limited to, radio frequency carriers, time slots, spreading codes, and so forth) to support a given communication session. The constituent elements and the totality of such allocated wireless resources can be viewed as a communication link.
There are times when confusion can arise with respect to whether a given communication link continues to persist or whether that link has, in fact, become terminated. For example, a given user may perceive, incorrectly, that a given communication link has been terminated when they conclude their conversation with another party but fail to take an appropriate action to actually effect the termination of that communication link (for example, some cellular telephones may require the user to assert an “END” button to cause the device to actively effect termination of a presently extant wireless communication link). When this occurs, the system will typically continue to monitor and track the duration of the communication link's persistence for accounting purposes. This, in turn, can lead to unexpected and undesired network usage, wasted resources, and higher-than-expected account billing for the user.
As another example, wireless communication links are subject to various operational circumstances that can lead to abrupt termination of the communication link. For example, a given user may move from one cell site to another cell site that has no currently available resources to commit to supporting a present conversation being conducted by that user. When this happens, there is typically no specific indication to the user that such a drop in services has occurred. Instead, the user may continue to engage in their part of the conversation until finally determining that they are receiving no response from the other party. Such circumstances can significantly negatively impact user experience, in part owing to the problem of determining how much information was actually conveyed to the other party in order to later continue that conversation with as little overlap or missed information content as possible.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.